Lincoln City – Best Disability Programme 2015

Helping improve the lives of people with physical and mental disabilities

The Trust runs a programme of activities across all disability needs and aims to provide people with disabilities regular physical activity and sport sessions.

Their project is unique because it delivers sport or physical activity for such a wide demographic of individuals across the whole of rural Lincolnshire.

The Trust works across a wide range of venues and activities. This includes the 21 special schools, who receive a block of 12 weekly sessions tailored to meet the school’s needs. This includes multi sports sessions such as wheelchair activities or sport specific, including Boccia, New age Kurling and football.

At care home they run seated target games where scores were recorded and winners announced. This worked extremely well resulting in a 16 care home festival during Falls Prevention week last year.

Their work in the mental health sector involved delivering activity in residential units that would engage the hardest to reach individuals that were very anti-sport. This included a range of ‘Cube style’ which provided a range of physical and mental challenges. This included blind folded activities, timed and target games.

They have trained over 100 volunteers and care home support staff, as well as young people with disabilities in sports leadership, to create sustainable sport in the organisations they have worked in. Staff have been empowered to continue providing activity sessions to their residents after the initial project delivery.

The Trust’s Damon Parkinson said “Through our structured delivery we have given a large number of individuals their first experience of sport, with a number transitioning into extra-curricular opportunities. Across these groups of people we delivered to individuals across the whole spectrum of disability.”

“We have enabled people with disabilities to take part in sport and physical activity that would not have had the chance to without our project. Through our community sessions we now have a sustainable Football session for over 100 members in specific disability teams. We have also been able to create sustainable football sessions for people with Downs Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. “

“We have also increased confidence and self-esteem in individuals which has led to people taking part in other activities that they would not have attended before.”